Machines, including wheel loaders, on and off-highway haul and vocational trucks, motor graders, and other types of heavy equipment generally include a mechanical transmission drivingly coupled to opposing traction devices by way of front and/or rear differentials and two substantially identical final drives (one located between each differential and an associated traction device). Each differential receives a power input from the transmission and produces two power outputs directed through the final drives to the traction devices. The final drives function to reduce a rotational speed of the differential output to a level appropriate to drive the associated traction devices and thereby propel the machine.
Each final drive generally includes a stationary housing, an axle rotatably disposed within the housing and driven by the differential, and a brake assembly connected between the housing and the axle. Typical brake assemblies include a plurality of friction plates connected to rotate with the axle, a plurality of separator plates disposed between adjacent friction plates and rotationally constrained at their periphery by the housing, and a piston driven by pressurized fluid to push the friction plates and separator plates together, thereby generating frictional torque between the plates that retards rotation of the axle. An exemplary brake assembly is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,326 issued to Osenbaugh on Apr. 7, 1987.
A common brake assembly problem involves fluid leaking from seals within the assembly. In particular, many brake assemblies are mounted to and supported by the stationary housing at inboard ends of the brake assemblies. In these configurations, the brake assemblies can experience sagging at a mid-point between the ends and/or misalignment at the ends that causes seals within the assembly to leak. If left unchecked, this leaking can lead to system failure and environmental violations.
The brake assembly of the present disclosure is directed toward solving one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art.